Kona
Stinky Six
Freeride Full Suspension

Product Description

In a nut, this is the classic North Shore freeride bike. And we should know, we've been riding here since it all started. For those who insist on climbing to the burl, those simple, classic folks hell bent on ripping it all-up and down-the pared version of our legendary Stinky enjoys dual chainrings for comfortable climbing, comes Hammerschmidt compatible, and takes all bells and whistles and shoves them where the sun don't shine (cause it don't shine much on the Shore). Plushness guaranteed.

I bought a 2011 model off of a bike park end of 2012 season. For the price I paid, I haven't found anything that comes close to this bike. It can handle anything i can throw at it and never lets me down.
First thing i did when i got the bike was upgrade handlebars, and i also replaced the chain and pedals. I plan on upgrading all the components over time.
personally I love kona products, I haven't been disappointed by one yet.

This has been a really great, cost effective bike that can really take a beating. It's not light, but I came from my well-worn old 40+ pound GT tank with 888's & 2.5's so this feels great. I'm over 200lbs and climb & ride crosscountry as much as descend, and have been happy with the pedaling performance...it's not often I have to hike-a-bike. It bobs a bit, but has good traction. The riding position is comfortable for me, more laid back. It's tricky to keep the front wheel on the ground on steeper technical climbs, but it's ideal everywhere else, and the relaxed head angle really helps the confidence going down. Lots of people complain about brake-jack in the rear, but I'm not a good enough rider to really care and tend to favor the front brake anyway so it hasn't bugged me. It was magic at Northstar a few weeks ago, my first park experience, and I came away with even more respect for the bike. Really forgiving handling & geometry help when you completely blow your corner entry or accidentally grab front brake cresting a tabletop. The number of people up there that I saw riding other Konas and older Stinky's really bodes well for their durability.

I wish the fork had more than just rebound adjustment, but once I dropped the pressure a bit it really helped. The Van R is a tried and true shock, but I think I'll be upgrading to something I can lock out that has more adjustment. The stock seatpost clamp was junk, the seat was all over the place underneath me from day 1. The stock Alexrims wheels gave more pinch flats than I've had in my life, despite running over 40psi. Swapping to the Mavics fixed that, and I could drop my pressures to boot. The stock rear hub, as others have noted, isn't great. It was constantly loosening or throwing grease. The provided grips were nice lock-ons, but just didn't compare to the nice sticky ODI's. The Stroker Ryde brakes made me a faster rider because they wouldn't actually slow the bike down and were really hard to modulate compared to the Juicy's, so I swapped those out too.

My old bike was just crumbling and impossible to get parts for any more, and I needed a bike I could ride everywhere for a long time, for less than $2000. I looked at Nomads, Remedys, Enduros, etc, all amazing bikes, but they inevitably blew my budget out of the water for decent equipment levels. I hadn't even considered Kona until one of the guys at CBO suggested I give this a ride, and remembered liking a friend's old Stinky Dee-Lux. Since I had all the nice bits from my old bike, but not quite enough to build something more expensive from a frame, this was a great solution. It'd be a great first All-Mountain style bike for someone just getting into it, too.

My only gripes are some of the off the shelf components, but considering the price point it's actually pretty well equipped. It's really a good all around bike, and I have no doubt it'll still be in my quiver 10 years on. I'm gonna use all the take-off parts to build up a loaner bike for friends, and they'll be perfect for that. I've been stoked on it, and Kona is a cool company so I'm happy.

I had a problem with bikes breaking beneath me while riding on flat pavement I'm 6-4 340. The Stinky Six put an end to that. The wheels have never needed truing on this bike. I adjusted the suspension and seat on the first few rides and that was all I have done to it except tires and seat and a bell. I gotta have the bell for all the tourists that step out in front of me in the summer. This bike rides and handles great and I am impressed. I love the components and shocks and I am not planning any upgrades until I break something. I would change the back hub to something with sealed bearings. The rear shock is Fox Vanilla-R (the R stands for rebound) With this little red dial I was able to tune out all bob completely. Front shock is Marzocchi 55-RS which is pretty decent. Real spongy for a heavy guy but I do a lot of in-saddle riding so it's no big deal. This bike is burly and holds me no problem. I use it for cross country and it climbs just fine. I'm stoked on the white paint scheme it looks nice, but chips easy. Great action on the suspension design, 4 bar linkage design is great. Cool cranks, flat pedals grab my vans(shoes) very well. Front axle was strange to figure out how to take out, I have to unscrew it while I hold in the ratchet thing. Weird. But way strong. This bike does wonderful in the mud bogs and by the beach. Roots in the forest are great and pavement is pretty darn smooth with teh KRADS. I clean this bike after every ride. Keeping your moving parts clean is the way to keep your bike lasting longer. I don't drive and I have a wife and five kids and I go to school full time. I really need this bike to last. So far it's been performing like a champ and I aim to keep it that way. Thank you Kona for a great bike! If I had a third thumb I'd put that one up too.

Weaknesses: the fork is not very adjustable, but it is very smooth and stiff.

Bottom Line:

This is a great bike for someone loves short travel freeride,
It is a great big air FR/DH bike. I can't wait to take it to highland. so far I have only been to killington and it's great. if you have the chance to get one, jump on the opportunity

Weaknesses: Doesn't come with D.O.P.E. system. Rear shock is junk. Kind of heavy, but I power it up most hills anyways.

Bottom Line:

Well... The frame is great! Plenty strong enough. 160mm of travel seams to hold up just fine. I take is baby downhill, urban and dirt freeriding, and some dirt jumping. My bike is fully customized. I would suggest if you purchase this machine, that you definitely upgrade your components. I still have the stock rear shock, which is total junk. That will be my next upgrade.
Kona's are good bikes. Don't let people suck you into the hype. This bike is very responsive on the trails. I've taken it off 8-10ft drops no problem.
My only complaints are; Kona should have included the DOPE system with the bike. $300 for the system as an aftermaket product is ridiculous. Second; it could be a little lighter. Although I do have the bike set up with all DH components. Third; The bikes rear shock is garbage.
All in all, the Stinky Six is a great do it all bike, with balls. It is very sturdy and won't let u down. It excels in all mountain, freeride, and downhill scenarios. Defiantly too heavy for XC. The Stinky Six is a bike that won't let you down for an affordable price.

Strengths: looks great in white(2009 model)
good price
stiff frame
if you really want to it can go uphill. shift to the granny gear up front and the anti squat caused by pedaling will eliminate most of the bob(although this is common for all single pivots).
i liked the fork and the rear shock for their simplicity and they seem to perform very well so far.
the brakes are sufficient stoppers.
all components are performing good so far.

Weaknesses: This really is just a single pivot design(foux-bar) so don't expect to much from the suspension performence under braking.
it is quit heavy.
the tires seem to be too skinny.

Bottom Line:

This bike is exactly what i needed for the country i live in.
as we don't have any trail's or parks with huge air so the stinky six is more than enough for everything we got over here. It is kind of short travel free ride bike rather than an all mountain machine.

I actually purchased this bike to replace my stolen 2007 Stinky. I was skeptical because I was moving from a 7" bike back to a 6" bike but I also wanted something a bit more suitable for all-mountain type riding. I live in Calgary and while there are some pretty intense trails around here I spend most of my time riding the trails along the river with my lady. This bike unquestionably climbs better than my Stinkys and Ollie before it ever did. I actually choose it over my Devinci Hucker for trail rides now.

I have managed to do a few shuttles to Moose Mountain and it handles the jumps and drops nearly as well as my 7" stinky did but I find it handles the smooth fast berms much better. The suspension strangely seems to be more alive than the 7" bikes. Could just be the result of my setting it up a bit differently being that it is a shorter travel bike to begin with.

On a hike-a-bike to the shoulder of Mt Yamnuska I noticed that the bike handles roots and jagged rocks quite well but the front fork could use a bit more compression damping to slow things down a bit, I found it started to sink into its travel after repeated high-speed impacts unless I sped up the rebound too much.

All-in-all, I find that this bike is a decent heavy duty all mountain bike that handles the big freeride hits almost as well as a full on 7" bike. Climbing it is not as much of a chore as some bikes. Make sure you get the DOPE floating caliper though as I took it off for comparison and the small bump compliance while braking really deteriorates without it.

Strengths: the frame looks stunning, curvy oversized tubes with clean cable routing.the spec is pretty damn good straight from the box and will inspire confidence to push your boundries.geometry and ride posistion are spot on for freeride and light downhill, everyday trails are a blast on this bike! its a real head turning too so expect quite a few comments and looks as you cruise around in style.marzocchi 55rs forks up front and marzocchi roco r coil shock on the rear provide more than enough plush suspension travel and have good tunability (although only preload and rebound). the front end with its 1.5" head tube and 20mm bolt through hub is incredibly stiff and the rear frame comes D.O.P.E ready and hamerschmidt ready for future upgrades. kenda nevagel 2.5 stick e tires do a fab job of keeping you on trail and clear quickly of stodgey wet mud-a good bonus with british weather.the nice wide bars and short stem set up add to the freeride hardcore feel and add to the comfort of the bike.finally the shimano hydraulic brakes (colour co-ordinated in white) do a stunning job of bringing you to a controlled hault.once bedded in after just a few rides they have gobs of smooth stopping power.

Weaknesses: probably the 1st things to replace will be the alex dm-24 rims, although they look the part with their big box sections and eyeletted rims many reviews do question strength and durability...although mine havnt let me down yet. the 55rs forks, although plush from the very beginning, feel slow and wallowy unless you have pretty much all the preload dialled in, mine also sticks in the 1st inch or so of travel but that will probably fade once bedded in...finally watch the sizing, i usually ride a 17" in hardtails and other bikes but the stinky range comes up pretty big length wise-i found the 15" model felt just fine and is far more chuckable on the trails-try before you buy!

Bottom Line:

bang on for the money-will put a massive grin on your face and keep it there till you get home! frame is infinatley upgradeable and looks amazing and well designed.if your after a sub £1500.00 trail bike make this a serious option, if your after somthing you can climb with just as good as going flat or down probably look elsewhere.but for fun in the sun and pushing your personal limits look no further than the kona!

Related Stinky Six Forum Posts

Hi There Peeps,
I have a kona stinky six 2009 and im still using the original fox vanilla r rear shock. is it possible to change the coil spring to a longer spring so I can have the suspension softer?Read More »

iv recently brought a kona stinky six 2009 white and i am plannin to build it up to do a little freeride/downhill as im a beginner at it.
im having a little trouble deciding what colour rims & hubs to have as its a white frame with blue,purple decals and green monsters stickers on it.
has any ... Read More »

Was thinking of building up a Stinky Six frame, but not sure if I should get the 18 w/ 23" TT or a 19 w/ 23.5" TT.
My current bike is a 19 w/ 23.9" TT, and about a 68.5 HA and a 90mm 10 degree stem. I'd like to go a little shorter and figure the Stinky Six in size 18 w/ 23" TT and a 60mm stem wou ... Read More »

Just curious what size you all are riding, and how tall you are and what your inseam is. I'm unsure if I'm an 18 w/ 23" TT or a 19 w/ 23.5" TT.
My current bike is a 19 w/ 23.9" TT, and about a 68.5 HA and a 90mm 10 degree stem. I'd like to go a little shorter and figure the Stinky Six in size 18 ... Read More »